Picture of the Week - 12/22/2022

 We wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas!

Love

The Bovenizers

Picture of the Week - 12/23/2021

 Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!  

Picture of the Week - 12/28/2020

 Well, I'm all off schedule this week!  Holidays on Thursdays and time off and getting unplugged from this computer have all thrown my Thursday POTW schedule for a loop.  

I considered just skipping last week altogether, but that didn't seem right since we have had such a fun week.  So I just decided to send it late and catch up.  Plus, who knows what will happen with this week and New Year's!  LOL

Last Wednesday was the boys' first day of break.  I think that's the latest they have gone to school before Christmas in years.  They all agreed that it was weird and made the time before Christmas go really fast.

Christmas Eve we went to Tricia's house for our annual Christmas Eve brunch/lunch.  It was fun to hang out at their new house and the kids always have a blast together.  After that we headed to The Melting Pot for a fancy Christmas Eve fondue dinner.  Believe it or not, we don't go out to eat as a family all together very often.  We eat out plenty, but it's pretty rare that everyone is free at the same time.  And even at 9 and 11 it's sometimes a hassle to take everyone and listen to the complaints from Zane and Beck about where/when/what we are eating.  Basically, it's just hard to make them all happy.  So we save the money and eat home - or feed them and then go out.  LOL

Anyway, dinner with the boys that night was SO NICE.  Everyone was excited.  They all ate.  Bob and I drank wine - thanks designated drivers - and we had both melted cheese and chocolate in the same meal.  Hard to find fault there!  It was a really fun time.

We headed home, opened up our matching PJs and everyone headed to bed.  Pictures attached are all from Christmas Eve.  I don't think I took a single picture on Christmas day.  

Christmas morning was so nice and calm.  I woke up first and we had time for coffee and to make the Monkey Bread before the boys woke up.  We dove into presents around 8 and really just had a great time together.  That afternoon we headed over to my parent's house with the biggest cheese and meat spread I've ever put together.  (Seriously I could have fed 40 people...) and celebrated Christmas again!  :)  

The weekend was full of rest and lazy.  It was awesome!

This week Bob and I are back to work for a few days and then another nice long weekend awaits.  We have no plans for New Year's.  We never really have celebrated New Year's Eve, so this is nothing new.  The boys are all back to wrestling practice now.  We have a tournament on Saturday and then quickly get into the heart of the wrestling season.  Believe it or not, there are only 2 more tournaments before we get into Regions, Quads, and State Duals - the wrestling equivalent of playoffs.  Still crossing all fingers and saying regular prayers that we can get through this season!!!  

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas and have plans to do something you love for New Year's.  Stay safe and healthy!

Picture of the Week - 12/10/2020

Christmas is only 15 days away!  Crazy!!  Exciting!!  Festive!!

It's time for our annual Christmas hat picture.  I will make them do this forever...  future spouses beware!

I hope you are all having a great, holiday-prep kind of week!  I'm excited.  Our shopping is pretty much done, wrapping will be underway tomorrow, gifts are made, baking on the agenda for Sunday.  

And to top off all that fun, festivity - we are also wrestling!  The West team beat North in a Dual last night and Spencer looked great.  It was, hopefully, his last 220 match as he's dropping to the 195 slot for Saturday's individual tournament.  It's a tough invitational, so we are all excited to see how he will do against kids his own size!  Quinn's wrestling with the JV team up in Lumpkin County this weekend, so Bob and I are doing a little divide-and-conquer action on his birthday.  I promised him we could meet up for post-wrestling drinks somewhere to (hopefully) celebrate both a birthday and a successful day on the mats.

Have a great week - and don't hesitate to wear the Santa hat in public!  Ho ho ho!!!

Picture of the Week - 12/27/2018

Wow!  What a fantastic week!!!  We jammed a LOT of really great stuff into the last 7 days!!!

First there was the wrestling tournament last weekend.  So much fun watching this team!  Great families.  Great kids.  Great attitudes!  It's SO refreshing to have sport without drama!  I'm a fan!!

Then we got home and jumped STRAIGHT into Christmas celebrations.  We had a blast celebrating with my sister and her family - and of course with Berber and Pappy.  We laughed and played inappropriate games.  We ate and drank - and then might have drank a little more.  Good times for sure!

Christmas with the boys was amazing.  They had just the right amount of fun surprises mixed in with the obligatory wrapped chapsticks and other assorted toiletries.  We watched movies and put together Lego space ships and played with dart guns that are nearly as big as Beckett.  I love this crazy family of ours!

Then yesterday we went to get the newest little member of our family - Brutus!  We've been anxiously awaiting him for a few weeks now and the boys were ridiculously excited to get him home.  He's not disappointed!  He's SO cute!!  And he's SO chill!  Ozzie has been FAR better than I thought he would be.  I was really worried that he would be mean and jealous and aggressive toward a puppy, but he pleasantly surprised me.  We haven't had to separate them since yesterday evening and they even took a nap within feet of each other a little while ago.  I think they will be good buddies very soon!

Here's a picture of our dudes in matching wrestling-themed jammies and a bunch of cute pictures of Brutus.  (He's a European-style light-colored golden retriever.)

Thank you for spending another year with us!  Have a VERY Happy New Year!  Catch-ya in 2019!

Picture of the Week - 12/20/2018

Happy Thursday before Christmas!!!

I can't believe it's already December 20th.  Where in the world did this year go???

Today we are off to Pigeon Forge for some family fun and wrestling tournament excitement.  I've really been looking forward to this trip because it is the start of all kinds of Christmas and holiday fun!!  I love the traditions and the time off work and the chance to recharge batteries and reconnect with all my favorite people.  Yay!!!

We get home on Sunday.  Traditional Christmas Eve brunch at Tricia's and then movies in the fancy-once-a-year treat theater with the cool reclining seats.  Christmas morning with monkey bread and a quiche which only I will eat.  Then dinner at my parents with fun cocktails and lots of laughs.  Then we get to go get the puppy!!  I can't wait to get Brutus home.  I'm not really looking forward to the introduction to Ozzie...  but we'll get through that...

Stay tuned for pictures of wrestling, Christmas-y fun and puppy-cuteness overload!

Picture of the Week - 12/13/2018

Happy mid-December from Scotland!

I'm wrapping up my week in the office over here today and get to head back home tomorrow.  This picture is kind of the perfect summary of my week.  It's a combo of thinking about, worrying over, and prepping for Christmas all while working my tail off over here this week.  I really can't wait to get home.

We will hit the ground running in preparation for the rest of the year pretty much as soon as I get my feet back on Georgia soil - and I am SO looking forward to the coming chaos.  

I still have to finish shopping and start baking.  I haven't wrapped a thing.  I have to pack for our mini-vacation to pigeon forge.  And prep for a puppy!  Like it's a seriously long To Do list, but it's chalk full of fun and happy things.  I am ready to dig in and get festive!

This weekend Quinn is wrestling down a weight class (he's been sick and lost like 5 pounds in the last week) in a JV tournament.  Spencer is off for the weekend (aside from a practice).  Zane and Beck are wrestling on Sunday.  I'm ridiculously excited to just sit and watch wrestling in a gym for 2 days, despite the fact that it's going to put me even farther behind on getting stuff done.  

Have a great week everyone!  And enjoy all your holiday preparations!

Picture of the Week - 12/28/2017

We are streeettttttccccccchhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngggggggg out the Christmas magic for as long as we can!

By shifting into DISNEY MAGIC mode!!!

I can hardly even believe we pulled it off, but we DID!  We surprised the boys with a trip to Disney World as part of their Christmas gifts.  So FUN!  I made them jump threw an elaborate scavenger hunt to find clues and gifts with words on them that spelled out "We are going to Disney World on Saturday"!  I think I am just as excited as they are!

I was packing today with Quinn and he reminded me of some Disney Magic that we had sprinkled around the last time we went to WDW - which was over 5 years ago!  I had forgotten ALL about this, but he remembered.  Because magic is MEMORABLE!  Several months before our last trip Quinn lost his favorite stuffed animal friend, Stegie.  We looked everywhere for that stuff stegosaurus and could not find him.  Quinn was VERY sad...  During a purge of stuff out of the toy room, Bob and I found him!  We were thrilled - and also feeling mischievous.  So instead of giving Stegie back to Quinn, we hid him and smuggled him into our Disney house, where Quinn "found" him waiting on his bed.  He was flabbergasted  - and totally bought the "Disney Magic" explanation.  And he still remembers it all this time later.  

I love that!  

I can't wait to make more memories with these boys next week in Disney (and LegoLand).  And I am so excited that Berber and Pappy are coming with us!!

Here's one of my favorite pictures from Christmas.  It's a repeat if you follow me on Facebook, but it's worth repeating.  

Go make some memories!!!  Have a very Happy (and safe) New Year!!!  Catch ya in 2018!

Picture of the Week - 12/21/2017

Wow!

A LOT of stuff has happened since last weeks email.  This has been one weird - and mostly good - week.

As I'm sitting here with a glass of wine and really want to go plop on the couch beside Bob for a while, I'll make this a new-sy kind of update and  leave the philosophy for another day!

Since we last "spoke"...

- I had surgery on my eye again on Friday.  I'm still messing with this droopy eye.  I had it fixed last November and it looked way better than it started, but still looked pretty different than the "good" side.  So we did a different procedure this time and I *think* once the swelling is gone and the stitches all heal and I look a bit less like Frankenstein, I'm going  to be really happy.  The recovery for this one was much easier than the last procedure, which was great!  But it still sorta knocked me on my butt last Saturday.  

- While I was applying cold compresses on Saturday, Spencer and Bob were at a wrestling tournament.  For this one, Spence got to wrestle at 195 lbs, which is his "real" weight class.  He did really well and ended the day in 4th place with a 3-2 record.  The 2 losses were both to the same guy.  There were 11 guys in his weight class.  The first time the guy beat him, he got pinned in about 35 seconds.  The second time, they went to the 3rd period, so Spencer definitely improved.  Tomorrow he's going to a BIG tournament down here.  It's a 2 day deal and he'll be at 195 again.  We're taking all the kids to watch him tomorrow (except Zane*) and hopefully it will be another fun day for him.  

*Zane is staying home to go to a Minecraft coding camp at the High School.  I think he's almost as excited about this camp as he is about Christmas!

- On Sunday we got 2 new members of the family - a couple of Guinea Pigs we've named Phineas and Ferb.  They are adorable.  We are all kind of smitten with them.  Quinn likes to put one on his shoulder and carries him around nearly everywhere.  The boys aren't even phased by the fact that these guys are poop machines.  LOL  Ozzie hates them.  Or maybe he's afraid of them.  He's been a nervous wreck since they got here.  Willow could care less.

- On Sunday we also got to watch Quinn play a lacrosse game.  He's definitely got more of a temper now than he used to.  I guess testosterone will do that to you!  At one point he got a penalty - then mouthed off about it - and got an extra minutes.  LOL  I kinda love the  fire!

- Somewhere in there we discovered that the truck wouldn't run.  So we left it parked with a plan to get it to the shop on Monday.

- Sunday night we got to go out to dinner and a concert with my mom and dad.  We had gotten my mom some concert tickets for her birthday and it was SUCH a cool night.  We went to a Korean barbecue restaurant and then watched a really cool Christmas concert with For King and Country and Casting Crowns.  Such a fun night!

- Monday we did the work thing, Bob went to Beckett's holiday party, and we found out the truck needed 6000 worth of transmission work.  BLAH

- Tuesday Bob went to Zane's holiday party while I took Quinn for a check-up at the scoliosis clinic*.  Then we went car shopping.  I test drove a bunch of different options and picked a car we thought we wanted.  Of course when we went to test drive it, the battery was dead.  So back home we went with a plan to revisit the next day.

*Way more on the scoliosis thing next week.  Short story is that his curves are worse than they were last year.  He has 3 instead of 2 and they are all more curvy.  So we need to go see a specialist.  I was, honestly, shocked because to me he didn't look any worse than he had before.  Oh well...  we have an appointment with an orthopedic scoliosis specialist next Wednesday.

(We were still trying to work through all of these distractions.  Work...  BLAH!)

- Wednesday Bob and I both put in a few hours at our jobs and then headed back to Carmax.  (BTW - This is the second time we've used Carmax and I really couldn't recommend them any more highly.  It's an easy experience.  No pressure.  We love them!)  I bought a black 2014 Infinity Q50.  I love it.  To say it's a step up from the 13 year old truck is about the biggest understatement of the decade.  

- Today we did the work thing again, gather up the big boys - who both got out of school early today because they had finished their exams, and had a lovely lunch with them.  Then I had an appointment with the eye doctor.  After that pleasant experience (seriously, does anyone enjoy getting stitches OUT???) we drew names and let the boys shop for their annual gifts to each other.  This year I had Quinn and Zane and Target.  LOL  We had fun!  Knocked over a whole display of wrapping paper.  Bought WAY too many bags of holiday M&Ms and giggled through the store.  Goodness I love those boys!

I am SO excited for Christmas!!!

Before we get there though...  we have MORE stuff going on!

- Tomorrow is wrestling day (and somehow I need to find time  to grocery shop or there's going to be a mutiny...)

- Saturday is WAY up in the air because our plans will depend on how Spencer does in the tournament tomorrow.  It also will, hopefully, include our Church service and our traditional Christmas Eve-Eve Mexican dinner if we can squeeze it in!  (If not, concession food it is...)

- Sunday we get to go to my sister's for our annual Christmas Eve brunch and then we are going to see Star Wars.  One of my favorite days of the year!

- And of course Monday is Christmas.  I can't WAIT to share some of the secrets that we have wrapped under that tree!

I wish you all the Merriest Christmas!  Enjoy those around you!  It's such a special - and kinda nutty - time of year!!  I love it!

Cheers!

Picture of the Week - 12/14/2017

The countdown is definitely ON for Christmas!!!  I can't wait!

Let's see....  what's new....

I finally got home LATE last Friday to half a FOOT of snow!  Craziness!!  The forecasters knew it would be cold enough to snow, but totally missed on the moisture content in the air.  They predicted no more than a dusting.  They were really wrong!  It was unbelievably beautiful!  I had plenty of time to admire the sites during my drive home from the airport in the dark on Friday.  LOL  Bright side - the only other vehicle out that night was a salt truck so traffic was a breeze!

We had a blessedly quiet weekend due to basically everything being cancelled because of the snow.  It was kind of awesome!  I baked and cuddled and cooked and relaxed and hugged and did a mountain of laundry.  

This week has be awesome!  Bob and I took a couple of days off work to celebrate Bob's birthday and to prep for Christmas and hang out together.  Nothing says love like a mid-week Chinese food lunch date.  :) 

Tonight I'm going out with some friends.  Tomorrow I'm having a wee bit of surgery done on my eye again.  Hoping it heals up quickly because we have a weekend full of wrestling (which I'm skipping, I think, even though Spence is finally getting an opportunity to wrestle in his own weight class (195) instead of wrestling up) and lacrosse on Sunday.  Then Sunday evening we are going to a Christmas music concert.  I can't wait!

It's going to be Christmas and Smiles and more Cuddles in NO TIME!

Here are a couple of holiday pictures to enjoy.  The first is from Friday night in the snow.  Definitely not something you see every year here!  There's our traditional Santa Hat picture - which I am probably going to make them redo because Quinn, who was dressed for a band concert, looks a little too morbid for a Christmas picture.  And finally a picture of Spencer and his girlfriend Ava on "ugly sweater day" at church.  Too funny!

Have a great week everyone! 

Picture of the Week - 12/15/2016

My theme for this holiday season may end up being "Fake it 'til you make it".  I'm having a tough time getting into the spirit this year.  And I feel bad even admitting that.  The Holiday season is supposed to be magical and full of gift wrapping and baking and peppermint.  So far my season feels pretty full of work and stress and drama.

Thank goodness for the little boys.  Because of them, I feel like I have to fake some holiday cheer.  Eventually opening that Star Wars Advent calendar and finding the elf and reading the Christmas stories and watching the classic movies is gonna force me, for real, into the holiday spirit.  For now I'm gonna just keep faking it.  

Part of the reason I'm stressed and busy dealing with drama is (admittedly minor) because of lacrosse and the Select evaluations.  To make a very long story short, Quinn got cut.  So did nearly all of his friends.  This has caused much discussion and I shall not rehash all of the conversations.  It's taken up a HUGE portion of my time over the last 7 days.  It's taken up even more of my energy.  And most of that has been dedicated to trying to protect and preserve the PROGRAM from the fallout - not my son.  More on that someday when I share how I've somehow found myself in charge of the boys program for our league.  I still don't fully understand how that even happened...  

Much drama...

Quinn, despite being disappointed, has taken this in stride.  He understands that if he had been better than everyone else, he would have made the team.  He knows we fully support anything we can do to help prepare him for next year.  We believe in him and think he can prepare himself to be a key member of the Sr Select team next year.  What we aren't sure of, as this is still quite new, is how he's going to respond.  Is he going to step up his game?  Will his desire to get better overcome inertia and cause him to change his behavior and his actions?  Not sure.  I hope so.  And since we've done this before, in different circumstances of course, with Spencer, we know the drill.  We've seen how a disappointment (getting cut, missing out on playing time, etc) can translate into really great things.  

I never like to compare my kids.  They are just WAY TOO DIFFERENT.  However, all Quinn needs to do to see how to turn this situation into something life-changing, is to look at Spencer.  And I know he can do it if he chooses to do so.  

And if he doesn't choose to apply the time and energy and will power to get better at lacrosse, that's OK too.  If he chooses to play the sport for fun.  To use it to spend time with his friends in a less competitive way, that's OK too.  And wrapping my head around that idea has taken some effort - if I'm being honest.  It's hard not to look at what Spencer has done and how much it has improved HIM and not hope for the same with Quinn.  But you know what...  Quinn is NOT Spencer.  They are different.  They have different talents and different abilities and different desires.  I pray that I am able to stay open to whatever Quinn chooses to focus on and that he chooses something to channel his passion into that will make him happy.  

So yeah...  there's been some drama in the house.  

And I haven't even shared some of the new medical stuff we are dealing with.  Not ready yet...  will soon.

As for the old medical stuff, Spencer's shoulder seems to be fully healed.  He's been going to the physical therapist 3 times a week for several weeks now.  It's made a difference.  And now that he's feeling better he's like a possessed animal.  If we don't find him a way to work off some of this energy soon I think he may start lifting cars.  This morning he got up at 6 AM so he could lift before school.  I'm not talking about a couple of bicep curls... I'm talking full on, sweat pouring, lifting.  I just pray he doesn't go too fast and hurt himself again because he's so anxious.  I'm pretty sure he's going to go to wrestling practice tonight.  I pity whoever he gets matched up with...  

This Sunday we have another wrestling dual.  If Spencer's shoulder does well tonight, he will get to wrestle on Sunday.  Quinn will be wrestling too.  He got to wrestle for the first time (since he was in 1st grade) last weekend.  He got pinned 3 times.  The last one was something called a stack?  I think???  It looked bad...  he got hurt... we spent the afternoon at urgent care getting x-rays of his neck to make sure he didn't break anything.  He didn't and he's fine, but wrestling is beast...  And you know what, Quinn went right back to work on Tuesday.  I'm so proud of him for that.  I know he's working hard and not getting much satisfaction from the sport THIS YEAR, but the fact that he's sticking with it will pay off in so many ways.  I pray he knows that.  

Drama this week for sure...

(Little boys are good - loud, but good - and not causing more drama than normal.  Thank goodness!)

Here's to the last full week before Christmas.  Here's hoping things will slow down a bit at work as people start disappearing for the holidays.  Here's praying that we get through the next week without any new injuries.

Here's to finally tackling my baking.  Here's hoping everyone loves the gifts we've chosen for them.  Here's praying for guidance on how to best support all of the needs of all of our children in ways that personally work for them.

Here's to sitting down to drink wine and watch Polar Express.  Here's hoping I can finish that one last project I'm working on before Christmas.  Here's praying that I can remember the real reason for this season and can trust that God has a plan that includes all of this drama.

Have a Happy week everyone!  (And sorry for the wordy email...  it's therapy...)

PS - how cute are these ornaments that Beckett has made for our tree?  I don't even have to fake how much I adore these.  Like seriously love...

Picture of the Week - 12/8/2016

Here's a fun picture on this COLD December day!  I love our annual Santa Hat pictures.  :)

This has been an odd week.  Not bad, just a bit odd.  

Tonight is another milestone kind of evening.  I'll be taking Spencer to a FRESHMAN football meeting.  As in Freshman in HIGH SCHOOL.  Oy!  I don't know how *that* happened...  And Bob will be taking Quinn to the last evening of evaluations for Select Lacrosse this spring.  Fingers crossed all around!  We will have results by Sunday night.

This weekend the big guys are going to play in a lacrosse tournament on Saturday while I'm hiding at home trying to stay warm with the little guys.  And then on Sunday we have our first wrestling tournament.  Spencer is still sidelined because of his shoulder, but Quinn may get to wrestle.  Should be interesting.  

Send up some special prayers this week for my dad and his family.  His sister Bev passed away yesterday. 

Have a good week everyone.  Only 16 days until Christmas!!  (9 working days for me until a nice long break!)

Picture of the Week - 12/1/2016

Happy December!

Anyone else having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that it's December and Christmas is just a few weeks away???  

I'm kind of having a bit of a hard time getting into the spirit this year.  Not sure why.  I'm hoping it's just because I've been busy (and not feeling particularly well) and as soon as I get some things knocked off my "to do" list, I'll be able to relax and enjoy.  For now though, I feel a little bit in denial that it's holiday time.  Maybe I should bake some cookies...

Thank goodness for the little guys.  They are in the spirit of the season and while I feel a little bit like I'm going through the motions for them without really getting into it - without them, we'd probably not have a tree up and wouldn't have our family of deer out front and we definitely wouldn't have these cool new Star Wars themed Advent Calendars.  They were SO excited this morning.  I seriously love watching them when they are excited and happy.  What a blessing.  :)

Some news kinds of things...  

- Quinn and Spencer are in the middle of evaluations for Select lacrosse teams this spring.  Spence is trying out for the Senior Select team and Quinn the Junior Select.  Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well.  We should know about Quinn early next week and Spence (for sure) by the end of next week.  I say "for sure" because Spencer's not able to participate in evaluations due to his shoulder, but the coaches know what he's capable of and we're nearly certain he's got a spot on that team.  

- Spencer is currently unable to participate because he's in physical therapy for a shoulder injury he sustained back in October during the football championship game.  We didn't think it was significant, but it wouldn't get away.  Turns out it was worse than we thought.  He's got at least 2 more weeks of PT before he can start doing anything.  No wrestling.  No lacrosse.  No weight lifting.  He's bummer - and bored.  We're hoping if we can keep him "good" through December, he can hit the ground running in January.  Believe it or not, weight training for football starts in January - and that's his current goal.

- Everyone say Happy Birthday to Berber!  She gets to celebrate this coming Monday!  :)

Have a great first week of December!  I'm off to light a Christmas Tree scented candle, eat a candy cane, and blare some holiday music.  I'm determined to get into the season before it's too late!

Cheers!

Picture of the Week - 11/17/2016

Quick share today of these cute pictures of my cute little guys!

All is good here - gearing up for a couple of slow (relatively) weeks.  I love the holiday season!

Picture of the Week - 12/17/2015

It's a tradition.  The Santa Hat picture. 

This tradition started by accident - as so many of the best traditions do.  I had a son who loved to wear a Santa hat at every opportunity.  I liked to take pictures.  One thing led to another...  and now...  I can't imagine a Christmas going by without a Santa Hat picture. 

And Christmas is almost here!!!  I'm almost SO excited!!!  Bob and I are both coming out of weeks that absolutely kicked our rears at work.  The kind of weeks that DESERVE a break!  But we are almost there!  Tomorrow is the last day of school for the boys.  Today was my last day IN the office this year.  I have to work off and on over the next 2 weeks, but no more driving to Buckhead until 2016.  Woot Woot!

This time next week we will be halfway through a Christmas Eve showing of Star Wars.  Tickets are pre-purchased and we are super excited.  Then we will get to settle in to wait for a visit from the dude wearing the original Santa Hat. 

This really is the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Happy last minute preparation days!  Try to slow down and enjoy.  This time goes WAY too fast!!!

Picture of the Week - 12/3/2015

I have so much I want to write about today.  There are so many things going through my head about the holidays, this time of the year, life with middle school boys, work challenges and work/life balance, the tragedies that have happened in the news recently, my to do list.  There's too much in my head.  It leads to poor sleep.  I know I'd feel better if I got it all out, but I just don't have time.  Sigh...  if only time were unlimited.

Instead of all that stuff I will share with you that Beckett started a new school this week.  This is not a decision that we took lightly - and honestly there's still some worry about how this will all work out.  As many of you may already know, we have been at Goddard for a very long time.  We have been very loyal and we had a great experience there.  We have had at least one child there since January of 2008.  And most of the time there were multiples.  At times there were 4.  Loyal indeed...

A few things happened to Beckett over the last few years that kind of bothered us.  Nothing major.  And if he were our first child to go through the program, we probably wouldn't have even noticed.  But we did notice.  And once you notice stuff, it's hard not to see it all over the place.  This was nothing dangerous or harmful to him.  It largely centered around our feeling that he had a bit of a "bad boy" reputation.  Either that or overly sensitive teachers.  I think it's important to note that if Beck were unhappy or in anyway unsafe, this decision would have been easy and we would have moved on long ago.  It was way more subtle than that.  It was really just more a case of not being 100% comfortable.  

Also the traffic to get to Goddard in the morning is pretty awful.  It requires a left hand turn, during rush hour, out of our neighborhood.  It was taking Bob more than 20 minutes round trip to travel about 3 miles - total.  The new place is a right hand turn and way easier to get to in the morning.  While the traffic situation seems small and petty, it contributed to the decision.

So we turned in our notice way back in October and Beck's last day at Goddard was the Friday before Thanksgiving.  He started at the new school on Monday.  And he's been SO happy this week.  As each day passes and we get through another successful drop off/pick up I breathe a little easier.  As the fear of the change diminishes, I am starting to see the unexpected benefits that this change could (and in some ways already has) given Beck.  

This is HIS school.  He's not following any of his brothers.  He's not compared to anyone.  He's owning it Like a Boss!  He's forging his own way and I think this will ultimately be SO good for his self-confidence.  (Not that his self-confidence needs any help...  that child is fearless.)  The change of scenery has allowed him to get away from whatever preconceptions and reputation he had back at the old place.  

It's been a good week for him.  And I look forward to more good weeks.  I'm so pleased with how warmly we have been welcomed into the new school.  

Here's a picture of the boys' visit to see Santa.  We've seen this Santa couple before.  Aren't they cute?  I was so pleased with the big boys and their willingness to play along.  They each walked up to Santa and told him what they wanted.  They cooperated with a nice little family picture.  They are pretty awesome.  And the little boys...  we are smack dab in the middle of Christmas Magic territory with them.  I'm soaking in every day because it's SO much fun!  I love this time of year with kids.  (Even if it does tend to fill my mind up with too much stuff!)

Have a great week everyone!